Department for Transport

Motor Vehicle Type Approval

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Statement of 12 December 2016, EU Transport Council, HCWS340, what recent progress his Department has made with his counterparts in other EU countries on reaching an agreement on (a) proposals for creating a regime for EU whole vehicle type approval and (b) further steps to ensure car manufacturers tackle emissions irregularities.

Mr John Hayes: The UK is actively involved in negotiations to strengthen the EU type approval regime within the Council. We share the proposal’s overall objectives of raising the standards of all EU type approval authorities and ensuring that manufacturers face a level playing field in obtaining the approvals needed to place their vehicles on the market. The UK strongly supports the introduction of Real Driving Emissions testing as part of type approval requirements. This is expected to significantly reduce real world emissions from new cars and vans, and make it almost impossible for manufacturers to manipulate emissions. The UK is pressing for final agreement of these requirements before Christmas this year.

A14

Jo Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps are being taken to improve the A14 from junction 42 (Westley) to junction 51 (Beacon Hill).

Mr John Hayes: Highways England has no plans to improve this section of the A14 in Suffolk within the current Roads Investment Strategy (2015-2020). However, Highways England’s largest construction project has just commenced on the A14 between Huntington and Cambridge. There are now updating its East of England route strategy in preparation for the second Roads Investment Strategy (2020-2025) and options for improving the A14 further will be considered.

Department for Transport: Horizon 2020

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Treasury Committee on 12 December 2016, in response to Q311, who in his Department is responsible for assessing whether grant applications for Horizon 2020 funding are (a) value for money and (b) in line with Government objectives.

Mr John Hayes: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 20 December 2016 to Question UIN 57694.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Communities and Local Government: Work Experience

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many unpaid internships there are in his Department.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has no unpaid internships. The Civil Service runs the Summer Diversity Internship Programme, which is a two month placement and is paid. The Civil Service also runs the Early Diversity Internship Programme which is for a week only (and more akin to work experience) - it provides expenses to encourage applications and ensure there is no financial loss. The Department participates in both of these programmes.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of local authority Travellers' sites that will be required in each of the next 10 years.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what mechanisms there are to ensure local authorities meet the required number of Travellers' sites in each local authority area.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Travellers' sites that are required in each local authority area.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government has made no such estimates.It is the responsibility of local authorities to asses all local housing needs through their local plan.

Communities and Local Government: Staff

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many staff have been employed in the Local Growth Unit in each region in each year since 2009-10.

Andrew Percy: Cities and Local Growth Unit was created in December 2013. There are six local teams. These were entirely BIS staff until April 2016, when one member of DCLG staff was added to each team. The total regional headcount is 77. The current local team headcount in each region is as follows: Yorkshire and North East (14), North West (13), East Midlands and South East Midlands (10), West Midlands (13), London and East (13) and South Central and West (14). The figures have remained largely stable. The Unit also currently has four fast streamers based with the local teams on time limited placements, one in Gateshead, one in Manchester and two in Birmingham.

Communities and Local Government: Horizon 2020

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Treasury Committee on 12 December 2016, in response to Q311, who in his Department is responsible for assessing whether grant applications for Horizon 2020 funding are (a) value for money and (b) in line with Government objectives.

Andrew Percy: I refer the hon Member to the answer given to her by my rt hon Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to Question UIN 57694:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-12-14/57694/.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Manufacturing Industries: Trade Competitiveness

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to provide contingency funding for the continuation of compensation for the indirect costs of the renewables obligation and small scale feed-in-tariffs for steel and other energy intensive industries beyond April 2017.

Jesse Norman: We are engaging with the European Commission about our state aid pre-notification to move from compensation to exemption for the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs (FiT).

Developing Countries: Carbon Sequestration

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the November 2016 remarks of Dr Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, on the role of faster deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in forming an integral part of a strengthened global climate response, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of delivering aid to support the deployment of CCS in developing countries.

Jesse Norman: In 2012, the Government committed £60 million from its International Climate Fund (ICF), which forms part of the aid budget, to support the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in emerging economies.This International CCS Capacity Building Programme continues to work with, and in, emerging economies to develop the technical and institutional knowledge necessary to enable the deployment of CCS technologies.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Staff

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what roles have been created in the communications team within his Department since its creation.

Margot James: No new communications roles have been created since the creation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The department’s communications team is a merger of the ex-Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) communication teams, as per the wider Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy transition process as part of Machinery of Government (MoG) changes.

Energy: Meters

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2016 to Question 55315, what assessment he has made of the total cost of the smart meter roll out in the event that the deadline for that roll out is extended from 2020 to 2021.

Jesse Norman: The Government is committed to ensuring all consumers are offered smart meters by the end of 2020.The Government has not assessed the impact of extending the deadline for rollout to 2021.

Manufacturing Industries: Trade Competitiveness

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to (a) progress the Government's application to the European Commission to exempt and (b) bring forward legislative proposals related to the exemption of energy intensive industries from the indirect costs of the renewables obligation and small scale feed-in-tariffs.

Jesse Norman: We are in discussions with the European Commission about our state aid pre-notification to move from compensation to exemption for the indirect cost of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs).

Housing: Construction

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on using British wood in the construction of new housing to improve energy efficiency and cut carbon emissions.

Jesse Norman: Ministers in DCLG and BEIS have been having discussions covering a range of topics, including how best to increase housing supply while improving energy efficiency and cutting carbon emissions as we head towards 2050. In addition, the Government is committed to working with the Construction Leadership Council to reduce the trade gap in construction products and materials, including wood.

Association of Independent Electricity Producers

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what meetings he has had with the independent electricity producers since his appointment.

Jesse Norman: All Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly on the gov.uk website here:www.gov.uk/government/collections/decc-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-meetings-and-travel.

Fossil Fuels: Industry

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the oil and gas industry since the Autumn Statement 2016.

Jesse Norman: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has engaged with Oil and Gas UK, the trade association for the offshore oil and gas industry, and BEIS officials and the Oil and Gas Authority continue to work closely with the industry.

Hinckley Point C Power Station

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's polices on Hinckley Point C of power outages at EDF nuclear reactors in France; and if he will amend the loan guarantees for the construction of Hinckley Point C to make them contingent on the start of power generation at the European Pressurised Reactor at Flamanville by 2020.

Jesse Norman: Holding answer received on 19 December 2016



The power outages in France do not involve the EPR reactor type to be built at Hinkley Point. There are strong commercial incentives in the Contract for Difference for EDF to build and commission the Hinkley Point C power plant on time. In respect of the loan guarantee, EDF has confirmed to the Secretary of State that it will not be taking up the guarantee.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: iNHouse Communications

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has had communications with iNHouse Communications Ltd in connection with any current commercial tender process.

Margot James: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has not had any communications with iNHouse Communications Ltd in connection with any current commercial tender process.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what analysis his Department is undertaking of alternative options for regulating sectors covered by the EU Emissions Trading System after the UK leaves the EU; and whether that work includes analysis of the cost implications of alternative options for the affected sectors.

Jesse Norman: The Department is considering the UK’s future participation in the EU Emissions Trading System as part of delivering a wider settlement that is in the best interests of the UK, including those sectors directly involved in the System. There are a wide range of issues and options to consider, and we are assessing these carefully and in consultation with stakeholders.

Energy: Meters

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the finding of the Competition Markets Authority in its report of 24 June 2016, Energy market investigation, that 90 per cent of domestic energy customers were not sure whether they had or had never switched energy supplier, what assessment his Department has made of whether the roll-out of smart meters will create greater engagement with consumers in the energy market.

Jesse Norman: By monitoring the near-real time and historical data on the In Home Display, consumers should increasingly be able to choose the right tariff for their needs, and will no longer leave consumers to make switching decisions on the basis of estimated bills. The rollout will also enable consumers quickly to share their data with energy services companies and switching sites, via the now-live Data and Communications Company infrastructure.These benefits have been recognised by the Competition and Markets Authority, with some of their remedies being time-limited to fill the gap between now and the completion of the smart meter roll-out.

Manufacturing Industries: Trade Competitiveness

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to (a) expedite the Government's application to the European Commission to exempt energy-intensive industries from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small-scale feed-in tariffs and (b) ensure legislation is in place ahead of the next financial year.

Jesse Norman: Holding answer received on 20 December 2016



We are in discussions with the European Commission about our state aid pre-notification to move from compensation to exemption for the indirect cost of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) and have developed draft legislation in preparation.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

USA: Arms Trade

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has discussed the recent US partial cessation of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia with his US counterpart.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: UK officials have discussed the recent US announcement with their US counterparts.

Pakistan: Minority Groups

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Pakistani High Commission on reports of increasing persecution of the Ahmadi community in Pakistan.

Alok Sharma: The Government strongly condemns the persecution of all minorities, including the targeting of people based on their beliefs. Our concerns are reflected in the latest update to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual human rights report.We regularly raise our concerns about the protection of minority communities, including religious minorities, with the Pakistani Government at a senior level. During his visit to Pakistan in November, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), raised religious tolerance and the importance of safeguarding the rights of all Pakistan's citizens. We continue to urge Pakistan to honour in practice its human rights obligations, including those related to religious minorities, and to uphold the rule of law.

Foreign Relations

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his Foreword to the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, First Annual Report 2016, Cm 9161, what definition the Government uses of soft power; and how the Government quantifies the statement that the UK has some of the strongest and most effective soft power in the world.

Alok Sharma: A commonly accepted definition of soft power, based on the work of Joseph Nye, is 'the ability to affect others through influencing, persuading, and eliciting positive attraction, in order to achieve outcomes'. The UK's soft power stems from a wide range of resources, many of which are completely independent of government. This includes the UK's values, the English language, our cultural heritage and assets, and our world class education system, all of which attract tourists, students and business investment. In addition, the Government has chosen to invest in organisations such as the British Council and the BBC World Service, which build understanding between countries and promote the exchange of information and ideas.The UK is recognised as a leader in soft power by a range of external organisations. The UK has ranked in the top three in four different soft power rankings since 2012, most recently ranking second in the 2016 Portland Soft Power index.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Uganda

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the stability of the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We continue to follow developments on the border between the DRC and Uganda. As with many borders in the world there are periods of tension between peoples, particularly on porous border such as this. At present we do not assess the border to be unstable.

Morocco: European Development Fund

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the European Commission on the level of EU Development Fund contributions that Morocco has invested in Western Sahara.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Morocco is not a European Development Fund country. However it does receive other European funding, and my officials in Brussels and Morocco maintain close contact with the Commission to best target and deliver support.

LGBT People: Oppression

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which countries he has identified as actively persecuting LGBT citizens; and what discussions he has had with his counterparts in those countries relating to such persecution.

Alok Sharma: Defending the rights of LGB&T people is an important part of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's human rights work. There are many countries in which LGB&T people are discriminated against, including by the state. For example, there are 73 countries that criminalise private, consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex. All UK Embassies and High Commissions monitor and raise human rights issues in their host countries. We will continue to encourage all governments to respect the rights of LGB&T people, especially those that criminalise homosexuality and those that fail to defend the rights of LGB&T people against social prejudice and violence.

Sudan: Arrests

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Sudan on the arrest of the human rights defender Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam and his driver Adam El-Sheikh Mukhtar on 7 December 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Whilst we have not yet raised this case specifically with the government of Sudan, we have expressed our support for the African Commission on Human and People's Rights' call for the release of Dr Mudawi made on 17 December.We regularly make representations to the government of Sudan on arbitrary arrests and detentions of human rights defenders. Most recently, together with our Troika (US and Norway), EU and other international partners we released a statement on 7 December condemning the increase in political detentions and newspapers' censorship.

Israel: Fires

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on the effect of recent wildfires in Israel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The wildfires were brought under control on 28 November. An Israeli Government spokesperson said that 150 people were injured and 560 homes destroyed. Israeli Finance Minister Kahlon announced plans for compensation for those affected.

Spain: British Nationals Abroad

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many British Citizens have requested the aid of the British Consular in Spain for crimes involving sexual violence or harassment in that country in the last five years; and what prosecutions have resulted from such reports.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Our records show that over the past five years 269 British nationals approached the FCO's consular service in Spain requesting assistance as the victim of rape or sexual assault. This figure breaks down as 69 in 2012; 38 in 2013; 59 in 2014; 46 in 2015; and 57 in 2016. We do not hold information on the number of victims of sexual harassment and we do not routinely record details of prosecutions in a manner that allows the Foreign Office to answer the second part of the question in the time available.

Egypt: Politics and Government

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of democracy stability in Egypt.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Egypt has made progress towards more democratic institutions through the passing of a new Constitution with better protection of rights and freedoms in 2014, the completion of Presidential elections in 2014 and Parliamentary elections in 2015. We welcome these steps and continue to support the Egyptian people's aspiration for a full and functioning democracy.We also look to President Sisi and the Egyptian government to make more progress on human rights and freedoms. We remain concerned about detentions of political and civil society activists and journalists, deaths and reports of torture in police detention and prisons, and the continued narrowing of space for civil society to operate freely. A more open political environment with better protection of human rights is vital to Egypt's long term stability.

Cabinet Office

Lord-Lieutenants

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, where members of the public can access up-to-date information on deputy lieutenants.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many lord lieutenants and deputy lieutenants there are in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Lancashire.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the date of appointment for each deputy lieutenant for Lancashire.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the names of the current deputy lieutenants for Lancashire.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in which districts of Lancashire each of the existing deputy lieutenants for Lancashire reside.

Ben Gummer: There are 47 Lord-Lieutenants in England, five of whom are in the North West. Like other counties, Lancashire has one Lord-Lieutenant.Information on the number of serving Deputy Lieutenants is not held centrally: the number of Deputy Lieutenants in a Lieutenancy at any time is a matter for the Lord-Lieutenant, subject to limits calculated on the basis of population size. Lieutenancy websites may hold relevant information about current Deputy Lieutenants.

Civil Contingencies Secretariat

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total (a) budget and (b) full-time equivalent workforce was of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat in each of the last six years.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were seconded to the Civil Contingencies Secretariat from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and its associated agencies, during (a) 2015 and (b) 2016; and in what capacity such employees were seconded.

Ben Gummer: The budget and headcount for the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) for each of the last six years are set out in the table below. Headcount reflects staff paid directly from the CCS budget.YearHeadcountTotal Budget2010-201175£9,615,7582011-201276£10,514,0002012-201364£10,281,0002013-201464£9,104,0002014-201561£8,029,0002015-201675£10,518,000A significant proportion of staff in CCS are on loan or secondment from other departments or agencies, including from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and its associated agencies. This figure changes regularly due to staff turnover.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Older People

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2016 to Question 49681, if the Government will reinstate ageing as part of the Ministerial brief on inclusive societies in any further ministerial portfolio changes.

James Wharton: Ageing makes up part of the policy portfolio which is managed by Inclusive Societies Department. Lord Bates oversees the work of Inclusive Societies Department. Information on Ministerial portfolios is in the process of being updated on GOV.UK.

Developing Countries: Females

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact report entitled DFID's Efforts to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Girls, published in May 2016; and if she will make a statement.

James Wharton: DFID received the Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s highest green rated response, recognising DFID’s world-leading work on violence against women and girls. DFID’s management response, published on our website at www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/528263/man-response-VAWG.pdf, sets out areas for further focus in the future.

Department for International Development: Staff

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many civil servants in her Department work full-time in the Inclusive Societies Department; and if she will make a statement.

James Wharton: Inclusive Societies Department has lead responsibility for support to civil society, violence against women and girls, disability and other marginalised groups. It has 40.3 full time equivalents posts.

Developing Countries: Crimes of Violence

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of gender-based violence; what steps her Department is taking to reduce such violence; and if she will make a statement.

James Wharton: Globally, 1 in 3 women have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.Since 2012 DFID has nearly doubled its programming on violence against women and girls, for example our £35 million programme to tackle Female Genital Mutilation which is helping to reduce the practice by 30% in 17 countries across Africa. On 27 November we announced additional support to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women that will benefit over 500,000 women.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian assistance required in Aleppo.

James Wharton: The UN estimates that 10,000 to 15,000 people are awaiting evacuation from besieged East Aleppo, where food and medical supplies are exhausted; shelter is scarce, and access to water is severely restricted. Our priority for these people is safe evacuation in full compliance with international humanitarian law, so that our humanitarian partners along the evacuation route may deliver the life-saving aid these people urgently need.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation in areas of Syria outside Aleppo.

James Wharton: The UN estimates that there are 13.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, including 4.9 million living in hard to reach or besieged areas. The UN assesses that 7 million people do not have consistent access to adequate food, 15 million need water and sanitation, and 4.3 million are in need of shelter.

Syria: Overseas Aid

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what humanitarian assistance the Government is providing to civilians in Syria.

James Wharton: The UK is providing life-saving support to millions of people inside Syria. Through UN and NGO partners, we are delivering the full range of relief; including food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare. Between February 2012 and August 2016, we provided, for example, over 16.4 million monthly food rations, medical support to over 3.7 million people, and relief packages to over 5.5 million people (including essential winter and household items, such as blankets). This is funded through the £2.3 billion pledged by the UK in response to the Syria crisis, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.

Department for Education

Universities: Pay

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will require all universities in the UK to publish regular remuneration reports.

Joseph Johnson: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) already requires all the institutions which it funds to publish the salaries of their Vice Chancellors in their annual accounts.

Universities: Pay

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures the Government plans to introduce to regulate pay increases granted by internal remuneration bodies to Chancellors and Vice Chancellors of universities.

Joseph Johnson: Universities are autonomous bodies and it is for them to determine pay arrangements for their staff. However the Government said in the 2016 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) grant letter that,“it is clear that efficiency includes demonstrating restraint in senior pay and remains concerned about the substantial upwards drift of the salaries of some top management.We would like to see leaders in the sector exercise much greater restraint”.

Children: Protection

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help local social services to develop primary prevention strategies to reduce child maltreatment; and what discussions she has had with those services on involving other services in the development of those strategies.

Edward Timpson: The Government’s statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children, revised last year, is crystal clear about the importance that we attach to preventative services. Providing help early, before issues and problems escalate, is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting later. The Working Together guidance sets out that local agencies should work together to put processes in place for the effective assessment of the needs of individual children who may benefit from early help services. It is right that decisions about the provision of services, including preventative, early help services, are taken locally by agencies that are best placed to plan provision, taking account of local needs and circumstances. Through the Children and Social Work Bill, the Government is introducing a stronger but more flexible statutory framework that will support local partners to work together more effectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people. The new framework will allow the safeguarding partners – namely health services, the police and the local authority – much greater freedom to make decisions themselves as to who they work with and how best to arrange their services to improve the outcomes for children in their area. The new arrangements are based on the findings of the Wood Review, published in May 2016, which included extensive consultation with the sector. In 2013 the government set up the Early Intervention Foundation, funded by the Department for Education, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health, and the Department for Communities and Local Government. It operates independently of central government, to establish a robust evidence base for what approaches work best in early intervention and to support commissioners in implementing early intervention programmes and practice in their local areas. The Government is also setting up a new What Works Centre for children’s social care. The What Works Centre will focus on improving outcomes for our most vulnerable children and their families. It will identify best practice in supporting children suffering from, or at risk of, abuse and/or neglect. The WWC will be able to build a truly comprehensive picture of what excellence looks like by looking at both effective interventions and practice systems. We expect the WWC to work in close partnership with the sector and bring new and innovative approaches to gathering, disseminating and embedding its findings, drawing on lessons from a wide range of interventions – including reviews of serious cases and our Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme. Over the last two years the Government has invested over £100 million in 53 projects through the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme. The programme is supporting local authorities and other organisations to develop new approaches in children’s social care, including preventing child maltreatment. In April this year we committed a further £200m to support innovation and improvement over the next four years.

Students: Finance

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how long, on average, students wait for a decision on funding if they require the Home Office to confirm to Student Finance England that their immigration status makes them eligible to apply for that funding.

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the quota of 20 immigration status checks per day allocated to Student Finance England.

Joseph Johnson: The Home Office works to an agreement to confirm decisions on eligibility for student funding within 10 working days. Regulatory changes that created a new long residency category of customers made earlier in 2016 have resulted in an increase in numbers of customers being referred for checks with the Home Office. This has led to an increase in processing times for such checks. Extra resource has now been provided to increase the volume completed by 25% per day. It is the responsibility of individual students to provide the necessary evidence in support of their application. My officials are working with the Home Office to explore what additional support or alternative solutions can be provided to increase the speed of immigration status checks.

Ministry of Justice

Civil and Family Proceedings

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make it her policy to ensure that civil and family courts are made aware of the criminal convictions or details of prohibition orders of plaintiffs.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Government has no current plans to introduce new procedures as the courts have powers to deal with unmeritorious claims and applications. The court can strike out any action it views as an abuse of process or issue an order restricting the litigant’s ability to continue with further applications or claims, either of its own motion or on request by a party to the proceedings.

Harassment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of harassment or stalking have had proceedings against them in family courts initiated by the perpetrator of that staling or harassment in England and Wales in 2014 and 2015.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Government is clear that stalking and harassment are totally unacceptable. That is why we have recently announced that there will be a new civil stalking protection order, to support victims of stalking at an earlier stage that address the perpetrators behaviour before it becomes entrenched. We do not hold data on how many victims of stalking or harassment have been involved in family proceedings initiated by the perpetrator of the abuse. The court do have powers to deal with unmeritorious claims and applications. The court can strike out any action it views as an abuse of process or issue an order restricting the litigants ability to continue with further applications or claims, either of its own motion or on request by a party to the proceedings. We continue to work with the judiciary to consider what additional protections may be necessary for victims of stalking or harassment.

Prison Sentences

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving sentences for imprisonment for public protection have completed the tariff period set by their original sentence.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving sentences for imprisonment for public protection whose tariffs had expired were refused parole in each of the last five years.

Dr Phillip Lee: The information requested is available on gov.uk.Public protection remains our key priority; however, the recent HMIP report rightly highlights concerns around the management of IPP prisoners.We have set up a new unit within the Ministry of Justice to improve progression for all IPP prisoners and are working with the Parole Board to improve the efficiency of the parole process.

Immigration: Appeals

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce delays in securing dates for First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) hearings.

Dr Phillip Lee: We do everything we can to avoid unnecessary delay in the Immigration & Asylum Tribunal and we have provided an additional 4,950 tribunal sitting days for this financial year to ensure current caseloads do not increase. We are keeping performance under close review.

Ministry of Justice: Translation Services

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the selection criteria were for the contract to provide translation and transcription services for her Department, awarded to thebigword in May 2016.

Dr Phillip Lee: The selection criteria for the contract awarded to Thebigword for translation and transcription services was:Service Delivery (35% of the total score);Booking Service and Data Security (25% of the total score);People and Resources (20% of the total score);Mobilisation, Transition and Contract Management (10% of the total score); andLegal, Commercial and Financial (10% of the total score).The quality and financial criteria were evaluated separately. The Authority set a Quality Threshold and all bids which met or exceeded this threshold proceeded to the final stage of evaluation.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the average waiting time for transitioning from jobseeker's allowance to income support.

Damian Hinds: We do not hold any data in relation to cases which have transitioned from Jobseekers Allowance to Income Support, however we can confirm that the year-to-date (YTD) figure as at November 16 is 83.8% for Income Support claims cleared within 5 days.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the level of taper rate in universal credit that would mean that households were no worse off under universal credit than they were under tax credits.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the effect on the level of income received by households under universal credit relative to what they received under tax credit if the taper rate for universal credit was set at 55 per cent.

Damian Hinds: The structures of Universal Credit and the legacy benefit systems are different meaning there will be households with higher notional entitlements, and households with lower notional entitlements whatever the taper rate. However, no household will see a decline in the benefit payments purely as a result of the introduction of Universal Credit The single universal credit taper means that as people’s earnings increase, their Universal Credit payments reduce at a steady rate, so they can be sure they will always be better off working and earning more. We have also announced a 2% improvement in the Universal Credit single taper meaning more support for hardworking families.

Carers: Employment

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support people providing unpaid care in securing and keeping (a) full-time and (b) part-time employment.

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that adult and young carers who provide unpaid care receive the carer's allowance and other benefits they are entitled to.

Penny Mordaunt: Carer’s Allowance is paid to informal carers who meet the qualifying conditions, which include being over the age of 16 and providing care for at least 35 hours a week for a person with a disability who is in receipt of a qualifying benefit. Over 785,000 carers in Great Britain, including around 70,000 in Scotland, currently receive Carer’s Allowance. Carer’s Allowance can be claimed online, and around three quarters of carers submit their claims this way. Since the online service was launched, nearly 700,000 claims have been made this way, with feedback from claimants showing that more than nine out of ten are satisfied with the service. Financial support for carers is also available through Universal Credit, Income Support, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit. As more employers understand the value of retaining their employees, and as flexible working becomes more widely available, it is increasingly important to allow carers to balance their caring responsibilities with paid employment. To help with this we will be publishing proposals on carers’ employment in our Fuller Working Lives Strategy in the new year; rolling out Universal Credit to ensure work pays for all people, including carers; and increasing the earnings limit in Carer’s Allowance from £110 to £116 a week from April 2017.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Cadmium: Pollution

Dr Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will quantify the contribution to soil cadmium levels of (a) phosphate-based fertilisers and (b) environmental pollution.

George Eustice: Defra does not hold the information requested. The rate at which cadmium levels in soil change is measured in decades, and to calculate the contribution to soil cadmium levels of (a) phosphate-based fertilisers and (b) environmental pollution would require historical data on cadmium input rates that have not been collected. In particular, the cadmium concentration of phosphate-based fertilisers is not regulated in the UK, and Defra does not collect data on it. However, Defra does have a recent estimate of the current average rate of input of cadmium into European soils through various mechanisms. For (a) phosphate-based fertilisers this is 0.8 grams of cadmium per hectare per year; and for (b) environmental pollution this is 0.35 grams of cadmium per hectare per year. This estimate is part of the evidence base for an EU fertiliser regulation proposed in March, which limits the concentration of cadmium allowed in phosphate-based EC fertilisers.

Floods

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total (a) budget and (b) full-time equivalent workforce was of her Department's Flood Management Team in each of the last six years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is investing £2.5 billion over six years on improving flood defences (up until 2021). This is a real terms increase in capital investment – up from £1.7 billion in the last Parliament and £1.5 billion between 2005 and 2010. We are exceeding our manifesto commitment by building 1,500 new flood defence schemes that will better protect over 300,000 more homes. The capital programme is built up of flood and coastal erosion schemes developed and promoted by local authorities, internal drainage boards and the Environment Agency in collaboration with communities. Separate to this, the budget – or resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL) – and full time equivalent workforce (FTE) figures for Core Defra’s flood management team (i.e. not including flood management teams in Defra’s Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies), which is responsible for developing policy on flood risk management and responding to emergencies including flood, is set out below: FYCore Defra flood management and Emergencies RDEL (£m)Core Defra Flood Management and Emergencies FTE11/1236.031.6712/1343.631.6713/1425.435.4714/1525.437.4715/1615.937.7016/178.140.0 The change in RDEL over the last 6 years is explained primarily by the gradual transfer of funding for councils’ Lead Local Flood Authority roles (LLFAs) from Defra to the Department for Communities and Local Government. This began in FY 13/14; FY 16/17 is the first year DCLG was responsible for all of central Government’s funding for LLFAs.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her most recent estimate is of the number of lead local flood authorities which (a) have and (b) have not published a local flood risk strategy.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Lead Local Flood Authorities report their progress with local flood risk management strategies annually. As of 31 March 2016 out of the 152 Lead Local Flood Authorities in England,114 had completed and published their strategy and 26 had completed or were undergoing public consultation on their draft. Of the remaining 12, we have been monitoring their progress and encouraging to complete as quickly as possible.

Flood Control: Databases

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made in establishing the new ResilienceDirect database; how many flood defence assets are recorded in that database; and how many new subscribers have been granted access to that database since its creation.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: ResilienceDirect is the UKs secure and free to use web-based platform for the Resilience Community. ResilienceDirect enables the sharing of real time information across all category 1 and 2 emergency responders, government departments and other key agencies, including the Devolved Administrations, for emergency planning, response and recovery. The database holds a total of 164,049 Environment Agency flood defence assets, such as walls, embankments and flood gates, which operate together to manage flood risk in England. Currently there are over 20,000 users.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what targets her Department has set for raising partnership funding for flood protection in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19, (d) 2019-20 and (e) 2020-21.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what targets her Department has set for raising partnership funding for flood protection in each year from 2011; and what the actual amount was of such funding raised in each of those years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Department did not set a target for the amount of partnership funding for flood protection to be raised between 2011 and March 2015, and no annual target has been set for the period from April 2015. The target for the whole six year period from April 2015 to March 2021 is to raise the equivalent of at least an additional 15 per cent of the total capital allocation from partnership funding on top of Government’s contribution. The partnership funding each year since 2011:2011/12 = £39 million2012/13 = £40 million2013/14 = £83 million2014/15 = £79 million2015/16 = £74 million The above figures are rounded down to the nearest million and include expenditure of funds raised by Regional Flood and Coastal Committees through local levy.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which public authorities have provided partnership funding for flood protection; and how much each such authority has provided to date.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency receives spending information from public authorities on both their own flood and coastal risk management projects and the Environment Agency projects to which they contribute. This information is grouped into “public contributions” for each scheme, enabling the Environment Agency to have an overview of partnership funding available for flood and coastal risk management projects since 2011. Contributions are however not broken down by public authority and the Environment Agency does not hold nationally a list of all public authorities that have provided partnership funding. Around 300 public authorities, including Local Authorities, Highways Authorities and Internal Drainage Boards, are expected to deliver projects between April 2015 and March 2021. Over this period they are expected to contribute around £300 million in public contributions. This is in addition to other funding sources such as contributions from the private sector and local levy funding.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the partnership funding for flood protection raised within the current six-year programme has come from private sector donations.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To reduce the risk of flooding to a further 300,000 homes as part of the flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme 2015 to 2021, the Environment Agency expects currently that 1 per cent of the partnership funding contributions required will come from private sources. The Environment Agency continues to work in partnership with the private sector and expect that further contributions will be secured as the programme progresses.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much resource funding was allocated to flood risk management in each of the last six complete financial years; and what resource funding has been allocated to flood risk management in the current financial year.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: All government resource spending allocated to flood risk management in each of the last six years and for the current financial year can be found in the Central Government Funding for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management in England publication, which is available on the gov.uk website or via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/549093/Funding_for_Flood_and_Coastal_Erosion_in_England_Sep_2016.pdf

Home Office

Entry Clearances: EU Nationals

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the hospitality sector on future entry requirements for EU nationals after the UK has left the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Cabinet Office website which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office

Refugees: Children

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the letter from the Immigration Minister to all local council leaders of 8 September 2016, if she will publish the number of places pledged by each local authority area for those unaccompanied refugee children as identified by section 67 of the 2016 Immigration Act to date.

Mr Robert Goodwill: There are currently no plans to publish the number of places pledged by each local authority area for those unaccompanied refugee children as identified by section 67 of the 2016 Immigration Act. The Home Office publishes the number of asylum claims from unaccompanied children as part of the quarterly immigration statistics release. According to the latest release, in the year ending June 2016 there were 3,472 asylum claims from unaccompanied children. The full statistics can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2016/asylum#unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-children

Refugees: Human Trafficking

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been granted refugee status or another type of subsidiary protection in the UK on the basis that they have been trafficked since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Our records indicate that since 2010, 1,003 confirmed victims of trafficking have been granted refugee status or other form of protection as a result of an application for asylum. It is not possible to say whether refugee status was awarded due to the applicant being a victim of trafficking without a review of individual case record at disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Children

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum seeking children arriving in the UK have been given a dental check-up in the latest period for which figures are available.

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is the Government's policy to ensure that unaccompanied children arriving in the UK to seek asylum are given dental check-ups.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Unaccompanied asylum seeking children arriving in the UK are transferred to the care of a local authority. The local authority will arrange for the child’s health to be assessed and for a health plan to be drawn up. This will include dental care. Central records are not kept of the number of dental check-ups given to such children.

Hate Crime: Merseyside

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many racially or religiously aggravated offences were reported in Merseyside in each month since the EU referendum; and what change that represents compared with the figures for 2015.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office publish statistics on racially or religiously aggravated offences by force by quarter. The most recently published statistics, to June 2016, can be found in the Home Office Open Data Tables available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables.In October, the Home Office published Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2015/16. This release included an Annex of provisional data for specific racially or religiously aggravated offences in England and Wales around the time of the EU Referendum. Force level breakdowns for these offences up to September 2016 will be published in Home Office Open Data Tables in January 2017. These tables will be released alongside the ONS quarterly Crime Statistics. For information, the hate crime report is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2015-to-2016This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

Refugees: Children

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made in making an estimate of how many unaccompanied refugee children will be transferred from the EU to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons Eritrean and Afghan children over the age of 15 do not qualify under the eligibility criteria set out in the Guidance: Implementation of section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 in France published by her Department.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We will in due course specify the number of unaccompanied refugee children to be transferred to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016. Eritrean and Afghan children over the age of 15 do not qualify under the published criteria for the implementation of section 67 in France, because these reflect our focus on the very youngest children, those assessed as being at high risk of sexual exploitation and those likely to be granted refugee status in the UK. The latter criterion is based on nationalities with a first instance asylum grant rate of 75 per cent or higher in the year to June 2016.

Immigrants: Detainees

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost of immigration detention was in each of the last three years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Detention costs over the past three financial years have been published in the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts, for 2015-16 and 2014-15. Copies of these publications can be found on the .gov.uk website:For 2015-16: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539638/HO_AR_16_gov.pdfFor 2014-15: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441282/HO-AR15_web.pdf

Freezing of Assets: Russia

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has subjected (a) Dimitry Klyuev, (b) Pavel Karpov or (c) Andrey Pavlov to an (i) asset freeze or (ii) asset recovery in the last eight years.

Mr Ben Wallace: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 21 December 2016.The correct answer should have been:

The Home Office is responsible for the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The powers in the Proceeds of Crime Act may be exercised by law enforcement agencies such as the NCA, SFO, constables and HMRC. It is Home Office policy not to comment on individual cases.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Home Office is responsible for the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The powers in the Proceeds of Crime Act may be exercised by law enforcement agencies such as the NCA, SFO, constables and HMRC. It is Home Office policy not to comment on individual cases.

Refugees: Children

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will make it its policy to transfer 1,000 children from Calais to the UK before Christmas 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We have worked closely with the French authorities to support the clearance of the Calais camp and to transfer children eligible to come to the UK. Since 10 October, we have transferred over 750 children from France. The current phase has been concluded. More children will be transferred from across Europe under the Immigration Act in the coming months, including children from France.We will continue to meet our obligation under the Dublin Regulation to transfer unaccompanied refugee children to the UK where a family link has been established.In line with the legislation, we will in due course specify the number of unaccompanied refugee children to be transferred to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Emergency Services: Telecommunications

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department is working with EE and other mobile network operators to maximise the benefit of the new publicly funded emergency network services sites.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that proposed new Government funded sites, built as part of the emergency services network, are multi-occupancy sites and not single-occupancy sites.

Brandon Lewis: In delivering the Emergency Services Network (ESN), the mobile network operator EE will deliver up to 291 new mast sites. Government will deliver approximately 230 further sites (known as the “Extended Area Services” (EAS) sites) in the most remote and rural areas of Great Britain.For EAS sites, the principal objective is to provide coverage to meet the needs of the emergency services, but the Home Office is working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and DCMS to identify any proposed mast locations which could improve mobile coverage in future, with a view to ensuring these are built to a specification which could accommodate multiple operators.EE has indicated that it is delivering around 200 new sites in Scotland as part of ESN. In addition there are 104 sites in Scotland that are being considered as part of the Extended Area Services (EAS). Delivery of these sites is subject to planning permission and the acquisition of land. There are currently no new sites proposed in the constituency of Inverclyde, either by EE or the EAS as part of ESN.

Police: Procurement

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the savings to be achieved in the police force through the use of joint procurement.

Brandon Lewis: The police spend about £2.5bn per year on third party goods and services.The Department has enacted a number of price comparison exercises whereby the police have been required to report more detailed information about their procurement spend on individual items which have been published on police.uk.Over the last 18 months Forces have reported procurement savings of £140m; of which £49.5m have been collaborative.

Immigration

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 30 November 2016 to Questions 50075, 50073 and 50074, how many of those people who have claimed to be stateless since 2013 and were refused status in the UK on that basis have been removed from the UK.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 30 November 2016 to Questions 50075, 50073 and 50074, how many of those people who have claimed to be stateless since 2013 and were refused status in the UK remain in the UK without status.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 30 November 2016 to Questions 50075, 50073 and 50074, how many of those people who have claimed to be stateless since 2013 and were refused status in the UK on that basis have subsequently been granted status in the UK on other grounds.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Home Office Stateless policy is designed to assist those who do not qualify for protection but are unable to return to the country of their former habitual residence because they are stateless and would not be admitted to any other country. The requirements are set out in the Immigration Rules and reflect our obligations under the 1954 UN Convention relating to the status of stateless persons.Home Office shares information on the number of Stateless applications received and those removed with UNHCR. The Home Office continues to provide regular updates to UNHCR. UNHCR releases information on annual global stateless trends. The information requested can be found using the following links:2015:http://www.unhcr.org/uk/statistics/unhcrstats/576408cd7/unhcr-global-trends-2015.htmlhttp://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocAttachment.zip?COMID=5764023772014:http://www.unhcr.org/uk/statistics/country/556725e69/unhcr-global-trends-2014.htmlhttp://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocAttachment.zip?COMID=5762b05842013:http://www.unhcr.org/uk/statistics/country/5399a14f9/unhcr-global-trends-2013.htmlhttp://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocAttachment.zip?COMID=5762b0d84The information requested on the latest immigration status of those refused Stateless leave is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Home Office: Personnel Management

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people employed in human resources roles in her Department have (a) prior experience and (b) qualifications in human resources.

Sarah Newton: This information is not held centrally within the Home Office. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the trialled fast track scheme for permanent residency applications from EU migrants; (b) what progress has been made to extend that programme to all eligible EU migrants; and when the roll-out of that programme will be completed.

Mr Robert Goodwill: As part of the ongoing Home Office programme to digitise applications, we have launched a number of online options. One of these allows some EEA nationals to submit online applications for Permanent Residency. This is currently limited to single applicants. UK Visas & Immigration are working towards digitalising all application routes. The intention is to enable customers to apply online across our services and immigration routes in a straight-forward and customer-focused way.

Bail

Dr Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress the Government has made on reforming pre-charge bail.

Brandon Lewis: The Government plans to reform pre-charge bail through the provisions of chapter 1 of Part 4 of the Policing and Crime Bill, which is currently at Report Stage in the House of Lords.In the expectation that the Bill will receive Royal Assent early in the new year, we are working closely with the College of Policing to develop guidance which will form part of the College’s Authorised Professional Practice on Detention, Custody and Bail Management. In parallel, we are working with colleagues at the Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service to develop Criminal Procedure Rules for use by the courts for pre-charge bail extension hearings.The Government is also working with the Police, NHS England, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, NHS Wales and the Local Government Association on a series of Memoranda of Understanding to streamline the provision and processing of evidence to enable the police to conclude their investigations within the 28-day initial bail period.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to answer Questions 47283 and 47284 tabled on 7 October 2016 by the right hon. Member for Slough.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The answers to the hon. Member's questions, UINs 47283 and 47284, were issued on 20 December 2016.I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding.

Emergency Services: Telecommunications

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that EE negotiates transparent commercial terms for multi-operator access to publicly funded sites for the emergency services network.

Brandon Lewis: In delivering the Emergency Services Network (ESN), the mobile network operator EE will deliver up to 291 new mast sites. Government will deliver approximately 230 further sites (known as the “Extended Area Services” (EAS) sites) in the most remote and rural areas of Great Britain.For EAS sites, the principal objective is to provide coverage to meet the needs of the emergency services, but the Home Office is working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and DCMS to identify any proposed mast locations which could improve mobile coverage in future, with a view to ensuring these are built to a specification which could accommodate multiple operators. EE has indicated that it is delivering around 200 new sites in Scotland as part of ESN. In addition there are 104 sites in Scotland that are being considered as part of the EAS. Delivery of these sites is subject to planning permission and the acquisition of land. There are currently no new sites proposed in the constituency of Inverclyde, either by EE or the EAS as part of ESN.

Visas: Clergy

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to grant short-term pastoral visas to Christian church ministers from countries where their members are suffering persecution for their faith.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Ministers of Religion can apply to come to the UK if they have been offered a job within a faith community here.

Human Trafficking: EU Action

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what preparations her Department is making for the coordination of efforts to tackle human trafficking with EU member states after the UK leaves the EU.

Sarah Newton: The UK will in due course be leaving the EU. Co-operation with our EU and global allies will continue on the important issue of tackling modern slavery after our exit. We are determined to do whatever is necessary to turn the tide on perpetrators as well as ensure victims are appropriately supported. It would be wrong to set out unilateral positions on specific measures in advance of negotiations.During the period of the negotiations to exit the EU, the UK remains a full member of the EU and we will continue our work with EU partners to tackle modern slavery including through the EU Directive on Trafficking of Human Beings 2011.

Israel: Travel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2016 to Question 54294, what assessment she has made of whether the criteria for advanced security checks for the Registered Traveller Service are compatible with the Government's obligations under international law.

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2016 to Question 54294, what criteria in advanced security checks allow the Border Force to assess whether an applicant is suitable to join or remain in the Registered Traveller Service.

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2016 to Question 54294, whether the advanced security checks for the Registered Traveller Service include an assessment of whether the applicant has acted or has contributed to actions in contravention of the Geneva Convention or the Hague regulations.

Mr Robert Goodwill: A full suite of enhanced checks are carried out at the point of application for the Registered Traveller Service and at the renewal stage; for reasons of security we are not able to detail these separately. A real-time list of individuals enrolled on Registered Traveller is stored on a secure IT system and both the individual and their travel document are checked against this system upon entry to the UK.Registered Traveller membership does not guarantee entry to the UK. RTS members still have to meet the usual criteria and must follow the conditions of any leave to enter or remain in the UK. RTS members are removed from the service if they no longer qualify.Individuals applying to use the Registered Traveller Service must meet the usual criteria for entry to the UK under the Immigration Rules and pass the advanced security checks that apply to the scheme.

Migrant Camps: France

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much of the £3.6 million offered to the French government for support relating to migration she plans will fund (a) support facilities in migrant camps and (b) security presence within such camps.

Mr Robert Goodwill: On 24 October the Home Secretary announced a financial contribution of up to £36m to support the French humanitarian operation to clear the camp in Calais. This funding will be used to maintain the security of the juxtaposed controls, support the clearance of the Calais camp and ensure it remains closed. As the Home Secretary made clear, this contribution is not unconditional, and we continue to work with the French Government on their plans to ensure that the clearance operation is full and lasting.

Religious Freedom: Iraq

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the letter of 17 November 2016 from the All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief on providing further support to Iraqi minorities, such as Yazidis, if she will meet the hon. Members who signed that letter.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with Ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Theft

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she provides to (a) police forces and (b) victim support bodies on charging for the release of stolen property which has been recovered by police forces.

Brandon Lewis: The return of recovered stolen property and any associated charges is an operational matter for the police. The department does not provide guidance to the police on such matters or to victim support bodies.

Immigrants: Employment

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to make individual with limited or indefinite leave to remain aware of the 2014 changes to the right to work rules making an expired travel document with a valid visa no longer sufficient proof of an individual's right to work.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office conducted a public consultation in 2013 on changes to the regulations specifying the document checks that employers should undertake to establish an excuse under the Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 in relation to the prevention of illegal working. In that consultation, the Home Office signalled its intention to tighten the system of right to work checks and to focus these on more secure documentation, in order to simplify checks for employers and better prevent illegal working.When implementing the changes in May 2014, we published new guidance on the relevant pages of Gov.uk and communicated the changes to employers. Employers have a crucial role to play in informing migrants applying for jobs what documentation is acceptable as evidence of a right to work under the regulations. The Home Office has been rolling out biometric residence permits to non-European Economic Area (EEA) migrants granted permission to enter or remain for more than six months in the UK, which provide a simple means of evidencing lawful immigration status.

Refugees: Sponsorship

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on developing the Community Sponsorship Scheme for refugees announced in October 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Community Sponsorship scheme was launched in July by the Home Secretary to empower community groups, including charities and faith groups, to support refugees directly. Community sponsorship is a new model for resettlement in the UK. It is commencing on a small scale and we will closely monitor the scheme to ensure it delivers good outcomes for resettled families and local communities.

HM Treasury

Personal Income

Dawn Butler: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy and implications of the analysis published by the Women's Budget Group and Runnymede Trust on 28 November 2016 on the effect of tax and benefit changes and changes in public spending on lone mothers relative to the effect on other groups.

Dawn Butler: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy and implications of the analysis published by the Women's Budget Group and Runnymede Trust on 28 November 2016 on the effect of changes to taxes and benefits between 2010 and 2020 on white men from the highest income group relative to the effect on other groups.

Dawn Butler: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy and implications of the analysis published by the Women's Budget Group and Runnymede Trust on 28 November 2016 on the cumulative effect on Asian women from the lowest income group of changes to taxes and benefits between 2010 and 2020.

Dawn Butler: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a formal response to the analysis published by the Women's Budget Group and Runnymede Trust on 28 November 2016 of the effect of the Government's fiscal policy on Black and Asian families.

Dawn Butler: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy and implications of the analysis published by the Women's Budget Group and Runnymede Trust on 28 November 2016 on the effect of the Government's fiscal policy between 2010 and 2020 on the income of BME women relative to the effect on the income of other groups.

Jane Ellison: The Government does not agree with some of the assumptions underpinning the analysis; such as, that income from benefits would not be shared within the household, the imprecise distributional impact of spending on public services and the lack of accounting for how the government is helping women and families of different backgrounds, by providing a stable economy. The number of women in work has increased by 1.3 million since 2010 to 14.9 million and the female employment rate stands at a record high 69.8%. The number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women in work is at a record high. The Lone Parent employment rate, which covers both male and female lone parents, is currently the highest on record at 66.5%, over 10 percentage points above the 2005 rate. We have put women front and centre of our economic plan, helping more women than ever before to start businesses and get the support they need to work through Tax-Free Childcare, and childcare support through Working Tax Credits and Universal Credit.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Staff

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans his Department has to include worker representation on its departmental board.

James Brokenshire: I refer the hon Member to the oral statement on the Corporate Governance Green Paper of 29 November 2016, Official Report, Column 1408.

Mental Health Services

Helen Whately: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what comparative assessment he has made of (a) the level of psychiatric morbidity and suicide rate and (b) expenditure on mental health in Northern Ireland and other nations of the UK.

Kris Hopkins: The issue of mental health and expenditure on mental health in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive.The Office of National Statistics does however, release regular statistics on the rate of deaths by suicide across the United Kingdom. The statistics can be found at:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/suicidesintheunitedkingdom/previousReleasesOfficials from the Department of Health engage with their counterparts in the Devolved Administrations on these statistics, and they discuss whether there are areas for learning on tackling mental health problems.

Department of Health

Hospitals: Consultants

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospital consultant posts are vacant; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is an adequate number of hospital consultants working in the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne: The number of hospital consultant posts that are vacant is not collected by the Department. The latest workforce data published by NHS Digital shows that as at September 2016 there are 106,131 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the National Health Service in England, of which 44,333 are consultants. This is an overall increase of almost 11,400 (FTE) more doctors since May 2010, of which over 8,400 (23.6%) are consultants. Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for ensuring that there is sufficient future supply of staff to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system, taking into account issues such as demographic changes. In delivering its annual workforce plan for England HEE undertakes extensive discussions with NHS organisations, arm’s length bodies and Royal Colleges to understand future workforce requirements. HEE takes into account future demand for services in arriving at the final numbers it will commission.

Patients: Isle of Wight

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) cost and (b) time taken for Isle of Wight residents travelling for treatment to mainland hospitals.

Mr Philip Dunne: No such estimate has been made, however NHS England advise that work on travel times to and from the mainland, costs and the numbers of patients involved is part of the next stage of the work being undertaken to develop the new model of care for the Isle of Wight.

Department of Health: iNHouse Communications

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has had communications with iNHouse Communications Ltd in connection with any current commercial tender process.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department can confirm following a detailed search of its internal record systems and all registered interest in the current commercial tenders process, that iNHouse Communications Ltd are not a registered supplier and consequently there are no records of any commercial tenders or communications being held with this company.

Department of Health: iNHouse Communications

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has awarded any commercial contracts to iNHouse Communications Ltd in the last five years.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department can confirm following a detailed search of its internal record systems that iNHouse Communications Ltd are not a registered supplier and consequently there are no records of any commercial contracts being awarded during the past five years.

Dentistry: Training

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the rates at which the NHS market forces factor is applied to the dental service increment for teaching.

Mr Philip Dunne: Payments for dental undergraduate clinical placements (formerly known as dental service increment for teaching) are outside the scope of the medical undergraduate clinical placement tariff and subject to local arrangements between the placement provider and Health Education England. There is no nationally mandated market forces factor rate applied to these locally agreed payments.

Health Professions: Training

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of including the market forces factor as a criterion for allocation of Service Increment for Teaching (SIFT) funding on the amounts allocated for each Local Education and Training Board (LETB) in England; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of SIFT funding spent on salaries in (a) London and (b) each other LETB in England.

Mr Philip Dunne: The market forces factor (MFF) index used in the allocation of funding for clinical placements (formerly known as service increment for training) is consistent with the approach taken by NHS Improvement in adjusting service tariffs to reflect unavoidable cost differences between health care providers, based on their geographical location. This is considered the most appropriate method to adjust resource allocations in the National Health Service in proportion to these cost differences. The MFF is applied to all three education and training tariffs, however it is not applied to the contribution to salary for postgraduate doctors in training, which instead are based on national pay scales and amended for inner and outer London weighting.

Hospital Beds

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of hospital care for in-patients who have no medical need for that care in 2016-17.

Mr Philip Dunne: No such assessment has been made. However, as part of implementing Lord Carter’s recommendations on hospital productivity, ‘Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted variations’, NHS Improvement is leading work with providers to develop a richer dataset around all aspects of the patient pathway, including discharge. NHS England is also leading activity to embed a minimum community dataset which will allow an accurate understanding of levels of activity within community health services, this will help enable a robust picture of costs and implications of delayed discharges to emerge. At the same time, the Department continues to work closely with the National Health Service and local government to help local areas improve transfers out of hospital, share best practice, and reduce unnecessary delays.

Dentistry: Training

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much dental and medical service increment for teaching funding was allocated to each dental school by (a) student and (b) in total for each of the last three years.

Mr Philip Dunne: The table below shows the total funding allocated by Health Education England (HEE) for dental placements in England in each of the last three years. YearFunding Allocated £ million2014/15£98.52015/16£97.72016/17£99.7 Source: HEE Information relating to the funding allocated to individual dental schools is not held centrally.

Doctors: Training

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the income of NHS providers of the proposed withdrawal of the service increment for teaching funding for training international medical students.

Mr Philip Dunne: In early 2017, the Department plans to run a public consultation on its proposals to expand domestic undergraduate medical training places by 1,500 per year, from the academic year 2018-19. National Health Service providers will continue to receive placement funding for the minimum number of students that Health Education England forecast are required to meet the longer-term workforce needs of the NHS.